Mail-bag crane.



R. E. MOODY.

mu. BAG CRANE APPLICATION FILED MAR; H, 1915.

Patented July 6, 1.915.

RUFUS E. Moonx'or NOVA, OI-I'IO.

MAIL-BAG CRANE,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915.

Application filed March 11, 1915; Seria1No,13,643.

To all whom it may 00mm.

Be it known that I, RUFUS 'E. MOODY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Nova, in the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Cranes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to'which it appertains to make and use the same. v This invention relates toimpro'vements in mail bag cranes for supporting mail bags in position to be caught by the catcher hook on the mail car of a moving train. 7

The object of the invention is to provide a simplyconstructed crane which is adaptedto operate 1n such a manner as to sustain the bag to permit it to be. caught by the catcher hook of a train moving in either vdirection along the track or it may be used on a mail car for deliveringa mail bag to a catcher hook disposed along the track,

Another object oftheinvention is toprovide a mail crane having a swinging bag supporting'member adapted to swing in eitherdirection and to normally remain'out of operative position so that it will not constltute a source of danger to passengers on moving trains or to others, such as brakemen on freight trains.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed.

Inthe accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a mail crane constructed in accordance with this invention and showing a mail bag supported thereby, in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof showing the device in op erative position in full lines and in inoperative position in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of the frame supporting means.

In the embodiment illustrateda support 1 is here shownwhich may be mounted at one side of a railroad track or in the doorway of a mail car. Mounted to swing on this support 1 is a bag supporting frame 2 herein shown in the form of a rod having right angularly disposed arms 3 and 4 extending from its opposite ends to provide engaging means for the mail bag B which is provided I at its opposite ends with the usual loops L.

in upright 'positiononthe support 1 and is held at itslower end by a clip 5 herein shown formjed of strapiron secured at its opposite ends to the support 1 and having an outbowed portion 6, intermediate off'its ends to form a bearing forthe body portion of the .frame 2 as is shown clearlyin Figs. 1 and 2. Theupper end of the frame 2 is supported bya bracket 7 which is herein shown constructed of a curved plate secured vThe body portion of this frame 2 isidisposed at its oppositeends to the side edges of'the r 1 support 1 by means'of bolts'8or other suitable fastenlng elements. ThisYbracket or plate 7 is substantially provided midway its width with a curved recess 9 in which the arm Sof .the'frame 2 is-designed :to rest when saidxframe is-disposed in operative position for supporting a mail bag. (SeeFigs. 1 and 2.)' The up per edge of this plate is inclined downwardly' from opposite sides of said recess 9 as shown at 10 and said inclined edge terminates at'its outer or rear ends in sockets; 11 "disposed at opposite sides of the bracket 7 and which are designed torreceive the? arm 3 of the frame 2 when the crane is in inoperative position. (See dotted lines in Fig. 2;)

Projecting upwardly from the side edges of the bracketor plate 7 are arms 12 which terminate in a plane above the recessed portion 9 of said plate and are adapted to form gui'desfor the arm 3 of the frame 2 to prevent it'from riding out of the sockets 11 when swung roughly to one side or the otheras-"would occurwhentlie mail bag is gripped by the catching device of a fast moving train, it being obvious that this gripping movement of'the mailbag will cause the frame 2 to swing laterally out of the recess9 to one side orthe other according to the direction in which the train is moving and when so swung will ride downwardly on the inclined edges '10 and drop into one of the sockets 11 at the side of the bracket toward which it'hasbeen swungby the moving train.

From the above description it will be obvious that this crane or supporting frame U-shaped in cross section to provide ample spacebetween it and the support 1 to permit thefree'movement of the=frame2-between it and said support. The upperedge of this plate 7 is 2 will be swung automatically into inop- I erative position by the removal or disengagement of the mail bag therefrom, thus obviating the necessity of an operator being required for this purpose. It will of course be understood that when the bag is to be supported in position ready to be delivered to a passing train that it will be necessary for the operator to swing the frame 2 around into position to cause the arm 3 thereof to engage the recess 9 in the upper edge of the bracket 7 and when so swung the loops L of the bag B will be engaged with the arms 3 and 4: as shown in Fig. 1 and thus held suspended ready to be delivered.

This device while very simple in construction constituting three parts only, is very efficacious in operation and will deliver a mail bag as reliably as more com plicated structures and there are no parts which can get out of order.

The rod constituting the body portion of the frame 2 is of a length greater than the distance between the clip 5 and the bracket 7 which form bearings therefor to adapt said rod to be moved longitudinally in said bearings to provide for the downward movement of the arm 3 into one of the sockets 11 of the bracket 7 when said arm is swung into inoperative position, said sockets being disposed in a plane below the recess 9 which supports said arm in operative position. Hence it will be observed that this frame 2 is adapted to move longitudinally and to swing transversely in the bearings provided by the clip 5 and bracket 7.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mail-bag crane comprising a supporting structure, vertically spaced bearings mounted thereon, a rod mounted to slide longitudinally and to swing laterally in said bearings, arms extending laterally from opposite ends of said rod, one of said bearings being substantially U-shaped in cross section and provided on its upper edge with a recess disposed midway its ends and recesses spaced laterally from said first mentioned recess to receive and support the (Topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the upper arm of said rod and the weight of the bag carried thereby to hold said rod against downward dropping.

2. A mail bag crane comprising a supporting structure, vertically spaced bearings mounted thereon, one of said bearings comprising a bracket U-shaped in cross section secured at its opposite ends to said supporting structure and having a recess disposed midway its ends in its upper edge, said upper edge inclining downwardly from said recess and terminating at its rear ends in sockets, a rod disposed in said bearings and of a length greater than the distance between the bearings to provide for its longitudinal movement therein, and arms extending laterally from opposite ends of said rod, one of said arms extending above and adapted to be seated in said recess and sockets respectively to hold the rod in adju'sted position.

3. A mail bag crane comprising a supporting structure, vertically spaced bearings mounted thereon, one of said bearings comprising a bracket U-shaped in cross section secured at its opposite edges to said supporting structure and having a recess disposed midway its ends in its upper edge, said upper edgeinclining downwardly from said recess and terminating at its rear ends in sockets, and of a length greater than the distance between the hearings to provide for its longitudinal movement therein, and arms extending laterally from the opposite ends of said rod, said bracket being provided at its upper end at the sides thereof with longitudinally extending arms projecting in a plane above the recessed portion of said bracket.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RUFUS E. MOODY.

Witnesses:

Mrs. J. S. MILLER, W'. M. THUDIUM.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

a rod disposed in said bearings. 

